JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville woman is hoping to inspire others through song after surviving the toughest moments of her life.
Bethany Bryan was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth. The disease caused her to have trouble breathing, along with many other health issues.
“It causes mucus to buildup in lungs and in other organs,” Bryan said. “Your pancreas is impacted that’s why there are malnourishment issues.”
She suddenly stopped treatment in 2020 and became the sickest she’s ever been in her life. Bryan said she stopped her CF medications because they were affecting her body in a bad way.
“I became so sick — I was down to 71 pounds,” she said. “There were times, in the end, I would fall over in my food and have to collect myself because my lungs collapsed.”
This is when Bryan wrote her song called “All of You” which now has more than 2,000 views on YouTube.
It’s sung by Bryan’s friend and worship artist Vincent De La Cruz.
“I kept on having these words kind of like drop into my heart I was like I know this song,” Bryan said.
Cystic Fibrosis can sometimes impact your brain functioning because of the lack of oxygen in someone’s lungs, so she thought she had heard the song before, but she hadn’t.
In the middle of her battle with cystic fibrosis, her ex-husband was arrested.
“That’s how the song was birthed in this deep empty alone confusing embarrassing time of my life,” she said.
Bryan said her doctors didn’t know how she survived being off her CF medications for two years.
“I shouldn’t be alive today,” she said. “I was so full of infection — I was so bad off.”
She eventually started treatment again and is still taking medication to this day for her cystic fibrosis.
Bryan said she feels blessed to have gotten through that trying time.
“Just simply breathing, I can sit there and say I’m breathing this is beautiful,” she said.
Bryan is now remarried and has stepsons. She’s living a life she never thought she would live.
“I had no idea all of this was on the other side,” Bryan said. “In the song, it says I am faithful to restore nothing stays the same and that literally is my life.”
This song got her through her darkest days, and she hopes the song can help the community get through theirs.